The Officer and the Gentleman
by girl undone
Summary: Commander Rachel Shepard and Garrus Vakarian arrange to meet his father to break the news of their evolved relationship. Things do not go as planned, but, for once in the Mass Effect Universe, this isn't such a bad thing. Rated for language.


A/N: The Elder Officer Vakarian aka Spy!Daddy!Vakarian that I've envisioned was brought on by the idea that Garrus, that adorable hot-headed 'bird-like guy with an exoskeleton' as Mr. Casey Hudson of Bioware has dubbed him, might have just not seen eye-to-eye with his father and perhaps the old C-Sec officer wasn't so bad after all. With that in mind, I bring you my take on Papa Vakarian, definitely inspired by the ultimate Spy!Daddy, Victor Garber as Agent Jack Bristow on 'Alias'. Try to imagine his voice in this story, just for the fun of it. Enjoy!

* * *

"Garrus," Commander Rachel Shepard said in an amused voice, "I know I told you I'm extra-durable now, and yes, I do have bone weave, but that hand just healed and you're coming pretty close to breaking it."

"What?" Garrus replied, turning to look at the amused human woman whose hand he was currently crushing in his own. She jerked at his hand as though to reiterate her words. "Oh! Sorry. I didn't realise..." He dropped her hand like it was tainted eezo.

Shepard looked toward the ceiling of the crowded Presidium bar they were seated in mock-exasperation. "I didn't say you couldn't _hold_ my hand. Just ease up the bone-crushing grip."

He looked at her in disbelief. "How can you possibly be grinning?"

She looked all the way down to the floor now, desperately trying to smother her amusement and failing miserably. "Because I find it terribly adorable that you're so nervous about seeing your father."

Garrus Vakarian, ex-C-Sec officer, one of the saviours of the Citadel, former Spectre candidate, bad-ass-with-a-heart-of-gold vigilante who managed to piss off three of the most dangerous merc organisations enough to make them band together to take him down on Omega, leader of the two firing squads in the Collectors Base, and general crack-shot with a sniper rifle was _not_ amused. He jumped up from black lacquered bar stool and demanded, "Did you just call me _adorable?_ You have no idea what he's like, Rachel! I was never good enough for him. Nothing I did was ever enough for him. Coming here was a bad idea. Nothing good ever happens in this place." He looked around the deceptively minimalist, heinously expensive bar with disdain. _Dammit, she's still _grinning _at me._

She was, indeed. "Yeah, well, I'm not too fond of the Citadel, either, but if it means you and your giant ogre of a father," _Oh, there she goes with the sarcasm again_! "can talk, I'm happy to oblige."

He was pacing in the tight confines of the crowded bar. "You have no idea what he's like, Shepard!" he repeated.

She watched that battle-hardened turian love of hers walk a short and narrow path into the tiles below his feet like a nervous teen about to scolded, her amusement unabated. "You're reverting to Shepard? This is bad. Next it will be Commander and then we'll be back where we started, only this time I'll have to flirt with you over the Hammerhead, which you hardly work on anyway. Plus, I _really_ hate the Hammerhead. It's impossible to look sexy leaning on that thing."

He wheeled on her, not really hearing her words, but the humour in her voice. "How can _you_ be so calm? You're human and a Spectre. I'm not sure which he hates worse."

She reached out to grab his hand, her tone serious now. "Hey. Hey. Come here." He let her take his hand and pull him on the stool next to her own, but still looked disgruntled. She wanted to comfort him, but she honestly didn't know how much of Garrus' stories about his father were true or exaggerated by his point of view. Either way, she didn't want the make the situation worse by being overtly affectionate, so she stroked his arm before letting it go and looked straight ahead at the other customers before she spoke. "I came for _you_. If you want me to leave, I will. Hell, Garrus, if you don't want to tell him about me, that's fine."

He turned to look at her, though she was still looking straight at the various species conducting Council business or getting hammered. _There she goes again, _he thought_, putting me first. She always puts everyone else first. Spirits, I'm not a child! _But he wasn't angry with her and she wasn't treating him like a child. He sighed and gently pulled her face toward his. _She even bought a new outfit for this and she hates those damned asari styles with the high necks._ He shook his head, guilt washing over him. "I'm sorry. I'm being an ass. I want you here, Rachel."

She considered his anxious, tightened mandibles, his nervous shifting in the stool even as he held her cheek, before she spoke gently, "You haven't spoken to him since before the mission, right? I don't want you to miss this opportunity. He may surprise you, you know."

He paused in his jerky movements to really look at her. How hard she was trying calm him down, despite the fact she was likely the one to be under attack. He replied as softly as his flanged voice would allow, "I want to tell him about us. I just don't want you to be hurt."

She smiled, touched by his concern and amused at the thought. "How many times do I have to tell you I'm not easily broken, Garrus? Do retired C-Sec officers still pack, is that it? You're worried he'll shoot me?" Now she was grinning. "Remind me to put the barrier up. Miranda will be _thrilled_ to hear I used it." He growled, irritated, but she didn't let him interrupt. She reached up to caress his scarred mandible, disregarding her previous decision on the matter of open affection. He knew she felt guilty over it, which was ridiculous, in his opinion. She didn't fire a rocket from a gunship at him. "I love you, you know. Even when you're being an ass and acting like Grunt."

He drew back, affronted at the comparison. "Grunt! How am I acting like a krogan?"

Still, she smiled at him, and he couldn't remain insulted for long. That smile was for him and him alone. "Not like a krogan. Like a teenager worried to tell his parents he's blissfully shagging-"

"_Mated,_" he interrupted her, leaning his face closer to hers. Even though he wasn't giving her his usual turian grin, she could see he was a little less tense. For a moment, they forgot about the crowded bar full of customers and who they were waiting for.

She pressed her forehead to his, dropping her voice. "Mated, shagging, in love with a human Spectre-"

"Garrus?"

If Shepard didn't have good reflexes, he might have just taken off her head when he jumped up and away from her. "Father!" he exclaimed, and then coughed. "Uh, Father, sir." He quickly rearranged himself in precise turian military stance.

The Elder Officer Vakarian looked between his son and the human woman who had somehow managed not to tumble to the floor. He was surprised she wasn't red in the face, like most humans generally appeared when they were embarrassed. However, he could tell she didn't like being caught off guard. "It's good to see you, son," he replied, clapping a hand heartily on Garrus' shoulder. His head then tilted in concern. "Your face. You were wounded and didn't contact me?"

Shepard got to her feet slowly, as though trying not draw attention to herself. Despite wearing one of those damned asari dresses with their torturously tight, high necks, she locked her hands behind her back and balanced her weight on her knees, not even realising she had just assumed 'Commander Shepard stance'. In a dress. Perhaps she was more nervous than she would admit. She couldn't help but stare at Garrus' father. He had the same eyes, the same facial markings. _Well, obviously, Rachel, they're the same clan. _Even their voices were similar. _And the way his mandibles fluttered in concern for his son! _Surely this man wasn't all bad. Garrus wasn't one to lie, certainly it was against his honour, but she couldn't believe this man was as bad as his son claimed. _Maybe they just didn't see eye to eye._

Garrus remained ramrod straight. "It wasn't serious. I saw no need to worry you."

Shepard opened, then promptly closed her mouth. _Not serious, my ass. You almost died, you schmuck._ She knew she was glaring at Garrus, so she looked down to assume a bland face.

"Is that so?" replied Officer Vakarian. It wasn't a question. Inwardly, he sighed. No, he didn't understand this stubborn son of his, but he was his blood. His kin. There was no need for distance between them. Too much time had passed. So he forced the conversation onward. "I'm pleased to hear you weren't in any danger."

Shepard was reciting page 34 of the Alliance guide book's 'Rules and Regulations on Sniper Rifle Maintenance and Safety' in her head. It was the only way she could keep herself from slapping Garrus upside the fringe or laughing at the idea that he hadn't been in any danger.

Garrus didn't dare look at Shepard. Whatever expression she had on her face would cause a reaction in him and he was maintaining his calm so well. _Almost like a proper turian_, Garrus thought grimly. But his father looked at her and read her carefully hidden human emotions as though she were broadcasting them over Citadel newsfeed. He felt a little sorry for humans, now that he was retired from C-Sec. They could never really hide anything.

"You must be Commander Shepard. A pleasure, I'm sure." Officer Vakarian released his hand from his son's shoulder and offered it to the human woman. A long career at C-Sec familiarised him with human phrases and customs, as well as body language and expressions. She looked so uncomfortable in that hideous asari dress but fiercely determined. She was obviously the force behind this meeting, no matter what Garrus' message had said.

Rachel Shepard took the proffered hand and shook it soundly. For a human, anyway. She smiled, knowing he had been around humans long enough to understand it meant friendliness. "The pleasure is all mine," she replied in what she thought was a sociable tone. "It was good of you to come all this way, Officer Vakarian."

Garrus' head snapped to Shepard. _Did she just say_ that_ to my father in _that _tone? _He could tell his father was amused. _Spirits, this is awful. Doesn't she realise how she sounds?_

Officer Vakarian's mandibles flared in a turian grin. _Spirits, she's saucy!_ "To see my son? I thought nothing of it." And yet he still grinned when he continued, "I was also quite interested in meeting the human Spectre who lured him away from C-Sec, of course."

Garrus turned his glare from Shepard to his dad. "Father!" he growled, "She did no such thing!"

Shepard was non-plussed, a feeling she hated more than writing reports. She didn't understand why Garrus was glaring at her like that, and frankly, she had no idea how to peaceably reply to his father. "I-" she began, tugging at the collar of the dress she decided to airlock at the nearest opportunity.

To everyone's surprise, the elder Vakarian laughed heartily and clapped his arm around his son's cowl. "Come now, Garrus, it was a jest. I've long ago accepted you will choose your own path. C-Sec was not for you. I see that now. I admit I was glad you did not pursue your Spectre candidacy, as you had spoken of; but this is twice now you've helped defeat a terrible threat to the galaxy. You are no longer the hot-headed child who rebelled for the sake of it. You have grown into a fine adult who has justice in your sights at all times and you procure it well. It is true that you do not do things as I would, but nevertheless, I am proud of you."

Even Shepard could see Garrus looked shocked. She felt a little vindicated in her belief that Garrus saw the disagreements with his father through the haze of exaggerated teenaged angst and that no true animosity existed in the father's view. But smirking now would be terribly juvenile.

The younger Vakarian stared at the elder in disbelief. His mandibles fluttered in confusion as he tried to speak, "I, uh... Thank you, Father." He hesitated, then gripped his father's arm for a moment.

Shepard leaned against the bar stool, unaware that her mouth was quirked in a small smile. _Well, I guess that's as close as they'll ever come to hugging. _

Officer Vakarian nodded at his son in approval, then turned to the second matter at hand. The real reason he was here. "We shall all have a drink, then. Palaven ale, Garrus? Commander Shepard?"

Though his voice reminded her of Garrus, she suddenly felt like a recruit in basic when the elder Vakarian spoke to her. _Nerves, Rachel, nerves. You've never 'met the parents' before. Just be calm, nice, polite. Don't shoot or punch anyone or swear or make their translators glitch and you'll be fine. He doesn't seem to hate you. Yet._ "Oh, I'll have-" She was about to say 'the same' and then realised she _couldn't_. "The, um.." She hesitated, starting to pull the bar stool out so she could seat herself in a more delicate fashion than jumping on it, buying for time. _What's a lady-like drink? White wine, right? That's what Miranda said she liked. G-d, but it tastes awful... A martini is classic, right? _

"Garrus, where are your manners? Take the seat out for the Commander."

Garrus swore under his breath, "Father, I was just _going_ to," and pulled the bar stool out of Shepard's hands. She laughed at the scene of a perfectly capable soldier turning into an embarrassed adolescent being scolded by his father. "Call me Rachel, Officer Vakarian," she offered as she slid into the bar stool. Leaning her elbow on the bar, she propped her chin in her hand. "A vodka martini would be great." _Why is Garrus glaring at me like that? Because I forgot to thank him? Seriously? _She smirked, saying pointedly, "Thank you, Garrus." _G-d in heaven, he's on edge. And after all his father said!_ Then she added, conspiratorially to Garrus' father, "Your son is quite the gentleman, you know." She wasn't grinning, but her eyes were twinkling.

Officer Vakarian was utterly amused. He had seen, of course, the vids of this human when she was made the first human Spectre, after the Battle of the Citadel, even the older vids in the press from her brief statements after Akuze. But he never expected the strong-willed warrior with a steely voice to be such a flirt! He ordered the drinks from the turian bartender and considered the smiling human woman. Garrus always had to be different, he reflected. The human woman most likely turned his head. He only hoped her feelings ran as deep his son's did. As of right now, she reminded him of those nesting creatures on Palaven who used their pretty voices to lure their prey into a trap, then devoured them alive. "Is he now?" asked the older Vakarian probingly. You can take a turian out of C-Sec...

Rachel Shepard was shaking her head with a questioning look at Garrus as though to say _What?_ She couldn't understand why he looked like he wanted to drag her out of the bar by her hair. Quickly, she turned her attention back to his father and her newly arrived martini. She didn't realise exactly how she had perched herself on the bar stool, how she leaned in toward Officer Vakarian as she spoke. "Oh, absolutely! Always polite, courteous, and quite the smooth talker." She sipped her drink, never in the wildest dreams suspecting that she had reverted to the age of sixteen as much as Garrus had. Only she had been in a _very_ different place than he at such an age. She added, with a vague smile, "I imagine he got that from you."

"_Shepard."_

Her eyes met Garrus', shocked at his tone. He was _growling _at her in front of his father. This couldn't possibly be proper turian etiquette. He made a quick motion to her, usually one that meant 'danger, get cover' or 'activate your barrier'- _wait, did he seriously mean activate my barrier _now_? We're just having drinks with his father, who was perfectly content and grinning at me, mandibles wide! Just like Garrus grins at me when I say-_

_Oh fucking shit, Rachel, you moron!_

Her lips went white under her lipstick. Garrus had never seen her look paler. She suddenly sat up straight, with military precision, but no grace. Nearly knocking her glass over, she grabbed for it and took what she meant to be a sip that turned into a gulp. Which, of course, she swallowed the wrong way and began to choke.

Officer Vakarian never stopped grinning at her. _Humans. At least she realised what she was doing._ "Are you all right, Commander Shepard?"

She waved her hand, coughing into her shoulder. "I'm fine," she gasped between coughs. "I think I-" she coughed again, trying to catch her breath. "I swallowed the olive." She desperately wanted to rub her burning chest, to pull at the collar of her damned dress, but she didn't want to draw any more attention to herself than she already had.

Garrus had instantly made to move across his father, over the bar to Shepard, but when she made it clear she wasn't choking, he asked the bartender for a glass of water, then leaned back, arms crossed. _Well, at least she realised what she was doing._

Rachel hastily gulped the water in the most unladylike of fashions, trying to forget what the Presidium gardener had told her about the water supply in the Citadel. "I didn't mean to, um- That is to say-" _Rachel! Stop it! _She tried to put flint back in her voice, to sound commanding, but it still came out a bit weakly, "Please, call me Rachel, sir."

Officer Vakarian considered the stuttered, unfinished apology, the lone olive in the martini glass, then the anxious human drinking water as though to save her life. He decided not to point out her lie, as it was a harmless one, nor press her about her actions. She was obviously nervous and, if what he read about her past was true, it was similar to the Garrus' irritation at being reminded about his manners. He broke his silence, opening with a comment to address the matter at hand. "Ah, yes. Commander Rachel Shepard. Garrus mentioned you quite a lot over the years."

She coughed again, tasting the vodka martini that burnt a hole down her esophagus. She was never drinking anything again. Ever. "Did he now?" Her voice cracked. _Please let a Reaper ship come now. Please. You just accidentally tried to seduce your lover's father, you stupid, stupid idiot!_

Now that Shepard was no longer trying to 'charm' his father or choking to death, Garrus took a pull of Palaven ale and broke into their conversation. "Father, she isn't a suspect. Don't question her. I wrote to you because-"

Officer Vakarian turned to Garrus, looking offended. "I know why you wrote to me. I wasn't an Inspector for 38 years for my amusement. It's been quite obvious since the first time you left C-Sec."

Shepard pulled at the neck of dress, unable to see Officer Vakarian's face. His voice didn't sound too happy, though. _Well, at least he isn't angry with Garrus. Just the human slut._

Garrus, however, was astonished. "It has? How?" he demanded to know.

To both Shepard and Garrus' surprise, the older turian laughed. "Nearly every other line of every message you've sent me in that time includes her name, something she did, something she said. I may be old, but I'm not a fool. I cannot say I was... happy at first. She-" He paused, realising they were leaving the woman in question out of the conversation. "Excuse me, Commander Shepard. Let us discuss this together."

Rachel felt an unpleasant shiver down her spine. The idea that Garrus had been writing about her for years hadn't fully settled in her mind. She still felt like she was sixteen, only this time having failed to charm her way out of it and was now being questioned by the police. Which was basically what just happened. "Of course, sir," she replied automatically, and apprehensively. _You sound like a fucking recruit, Rachel. Pull it together!_

Officer Vakarian inspected his glass, still full to the brim, before setting it down. It only served to make his son and Shepard more anxious. "As I said, I was not happy. But I've had some time to reconcile myself to the idea." He turned to face Shepard. "I'm sure, by your species standards, you're a lovely woman. You've certainly proved yourself worthy in battle. I cannot say I am pleased that you are a Spectre. I do not believe anyone needs to go above the law. Nevertheless, I have read your files, seen the work you have done, and since you began your career in your human military, it would seem you have only over-stepped your bounds when the threat was immediate and absolute. I cannot lie and say that I would not have preferred my son to find a turian mate. However, it is what it is. He is happy and that is possibly the most a father can hope for his son."

For once, Commander Rachel Shepard had no idea what to say. _How did he access my files? What exactly does he know about me? Oh dear G-d, if he knew what happened with the Reds and he still...? Wait. I was right. I was right! He really _does_ love Garrus! _Suddenly, she didn't care about how or what Officer Vakarian knew about her or her past. Taking a deep breath and smiling, she began. "I-"

Garrus jumped off his stool in a fury. "You read her files, Father? How is that not breaking the rules? How does that not go against everything you ever taught me?" He was growling over his calmly seated father, who merely let him rage. "Your way was the only way, but it isn't! I've seen the galaxy, not sat behind some desk at C-Sec, and I've seen how it works. It's not black and white, like you've always wanted me to believe." He leaned in further, but still the elder Vakarian remained sedate. It only made the son angrier and he added, snarling, full of contempt, "You're a damned hypocrite and always have been." He strode over to Shepard and caught her shoulder in his taloned grasp, "Come on, we don't need to listen-"

But she was smiling at him and shaking her head. "Garrus. You really are a damned hot-headed ass. Didn't you hear what your father said?"

He hesitated, his hand still gripping her shoulder. She was smiling. That smile for _him_. He looked back at his father, who, he realised, didn't look as furious as he expected him to be. In fact, he didn't look furious at all. He looked tired and old and his voice echoed his appearance. "I just want you to be happy, Garrus. It's all I ever wanted for you."

Shepard was no longer nervous, anxious, sixteen, or a recruit. She felt as bold and daring as when she entered an abandoned facility on a forsaken planet knowing the distress beacon was false. Her small, white hand reached up and she placed it over Garrus' larger, taloned one. She realised it would further contrast their differences, but she was more concerned about the younger Vakarian's happiness than his father's possible disgust.

Officer Vakarian's keen eyes noticed the gesture. The defiance in her stance even as she sat. He also didn't miss the love in her touch or her voice when she addressed his son. His eyes, perhaps a little cloudier than Garrus' cobalt ones, met the strange mottled grey-green of hers. He remembered humans had eyes that resembled swirled colours of clouds and sky and not clear irises like turians. "I trust you to keep him happy, Commander Shepard."

She lifted her chin resolutely, but couldn't mask the delight gleaming in her eyes and turning up the corners of her mouth. "I don't break my promises, sir."

Officer Vakarian nodded and stood up, his ale still untouched. "Garrus."

The younger Vakarian straightened, but didn't move his hand. He noticed, for the first time, that his father wasn't as tall as he once was. He tried to tighten his mandibles so they didn't flutter. "Father." He paused. It was, possibly, the happiest outcome for this situation. "Thank you."

The retired C-Sec officer turned to the human woman who, in some part, helped shape his son into the man he was today. No, she wasn't what he had hoped for, but perhaps she was the best choice in the end. "I'll hold you to your promise." He knew he sounded stern, but if she were to be his son's mate, she should understand the importance of honour.

Rachel Shepard stood up, offering her hand to the original Officer Vakarian, not daunted by his tone. In fact, she seemed encouraged by it. "I hope you do. Are you certain you can't stay longer? We have plenty of room on the _Normandy..._"

Garrus felt the urge to laugh. There was absolutely no room, but the Commander Shepard he knew would make room if it meant an overnight stay would forge a better relationship between him and his father. He wrapped his arm around her waist. There was no point in trying to act like they weren't mated now, in front of his father or the Citadel. He didn't care who knew. She didn't care who knew.

Officer Vakarian saw the amused expression on his son's face; the affectionate, if human, gestures he used on the human- No. He must think of her not as the human woman, but as Commander Rachel Shepard. His son's mate. He shook his head and flared his mandibles in a small smile as he shook the offered hand. She wouldn't read that it was bittersweet. "No, I have arrangements with some old colleagues at C-Sec. I thank you for the offer." He nodded to her, then his son.

"We'll see you soon then, Father."

"Indeed, I look forward to it. Good evening, Commander Shepard. Good evening, Garrus."

* * *

He didn't lie, as he did have dinner plans with old colleagues, but he also had an hour before he arranged to meet them. In that hour, he watched his son and his mate. He saw this Commander Rachel Shepard tease him; he saw his son laugh. He watched them talk, seeing one conversation smoothly leading into another. He saw how relaxed and happy his son was, how he basked in the glow of his mate as though she were the sun and he was merely a satellite. But he also saw how she did the same. The woman in the vids was not the one he watched now. He saw her laughter, her happiness, her respite from what the galaxy demanded of her; to relax in the glory of the love his son shone on her. As he left them with their genetically-opposing drinks and mutual laughter, he reflected that Garrus was not a satellite to Shepard's sun. They were rather more like two moons in constant orbit of each other, each one lighting the other's sky.


End file.
